“The kickoff return was huge,” coach Dave Hahn said. “That was a nice way to start the game. We haven’t had that this year. We’ve been talking about making special teams special and there was the first kind of special thing.”

Many special things happened in all phases of the game. Wagner and his brother Colby added interceptions to their game stats, while Colby also defended three passes. As a unit, the defense allowed the Pioneers a mere 157 total yards.

Offensively, the Barons totaled 289 yards. Evan Simon’s passing produced 207 yard and two touchdowns with nine completions in 12 attempts. Will Rivers caught three of those passes for 112 yards. Tyler Flick scored twice while running for 84 yards.

Flick pounded out 31 yards on the Barons’ first drive to set up third and goal with inches remaining to the goal line. Simon finished the drive as the offensive line surged forward while the backfield pushed the quarterback over the goal line.

“A basic play,” said Simon. “Get on the ball and score.”

L-S blocked the PAT to keep the score 13-0 with 6:35 left in the first quarter.

The defense quickly returned the ball to the offense when Jake Harbach sacked Sean McTaggart on third down. Starting on the Baron 30 yard line, the offense moved quickly downfield. Simon ran for 10 yards on the first play, but a procedure call before the second snap gave Manheim first-and-15 from the 35. Isaac Perron erased the mistake with a catch along the sideline near the first down marker, breaking tackles to reach the L-S 39. Rivers followed with a 28 yard catch on the sideline. Then, with the ball on the 11-yard line, Flick needed two plays to score his first touchdown.

“That was just a basic power play and we executed it real well,” Flick said.

Manheim attempted a two-point conversion, but didn’t succeed, and the quarter ended 19-0.

The Pioneers’ first two possessions started with self-inflicted mistakes. On the first kick-off, they fielded the ball when it appeared to be going out of bounds at the 10 yard line. Their second possession started with an illegal procedure penalty. They began with first-and-15 and punted on fourth-and-18 following Harbach’s sack.

The third possession opened with a one-yard loss, but McTaggart overcame the loss with a nine-yard pass. Although Rivers hit and dropped receiver Austin Stoltzfus immediately, McTaggart ran for six yards on third down for the Pioneers’ first conversion of the game. A two-yard gain and five penalty yards were the only ones McTaggart didn’t generate as he moved the Pioneers to the Baron 31.

McTaggart then found Joey Underwood behind the defense with 11:39 left in the first half for a 31-yard TD pass, cutting the Barons’ lead to 19-7.

The Pioneers appeared ready to make the game competitive, but the Barons never let it happen.

At first, the offense seemed about to stall when a holding penalty on third and one erased a long Flick run. However, on third-and-14, Simon and Rivers combined for a quick-strike touchdown. Rivers caught Simon’s throw near the Baron 45, then spun away from the defender, and his speed carried him to the end zone for a 73-yard score.

“Coach called the play and said ‘Be sure you beat the kid over the middle,’” said Rivers. “I saw that Simon was in trouble in the pocket. I ran as fast as I could so I could create that separation so that Simon could get me the ball. I did have to slow down to get the ball, but instead of hitting me in stride, I had to bend down to get the ball. If anything, that helped. That gave me the option to turn and run for the touchdown.”

Colby Wagner ended the next L-S series with an interception and return that set up the Barons’ offense on the Pioneer 38.

“I saw the tight end come up,” recalled Wagner. “He went for the corner. I picked it up right away. I went for the ball, got it and ran it back.”

Five plays later, Flick scored his second touchdown, this time on a five-yard run, with 6:02 left in the half. Another blocked PAT kept the Barons’ advantage at 33-7.

Both offenses traded punts over the next few series, including a 59-yard punt by Colby Wagner, until the Barons’ final series. Ben Wagner set up Niko Gavala’s 31-yard field goal with a diving catch at the LS 9-yard line.

“(Hunter Hess and I) ran fades,” Wagner said. “I sprinted down the field and I looked back and saw the ball coming towards me. I just went to it.”

To get to it, Wagner estimated he caught the ball about a foot off the ground.

Gavala’s field goal came as time expired in the second quarter, and the Barons went into halftime with a 36-7 lead.

Running plays and then the mercy rule kept the clock running throughout the second half. As a result, Colby Wagner’s long punt return from the Baron 27 to the L-S 33 set up a short drive for the Barons, and runs by Flick, Chris Shaw and Simon took the Barons deep into Pioneer territory. From there, Simon rolled out to his right and found Isaac Perron coming across in the same direction for a 14-yard TD strike with just 18 seconds left in the third.

“I ran a corner route,” Perron said. “It wasn’t the best route, but the ball was there. I made the catch. It could’ve been smoother but it got the job done.”

Shaw ran for 48 of his 58 rushing yards in the fourth quarter to close out the game.